Catching You
by Purr
Summary: Just how hard is it to catch Aya? One unlucky telepath gets to find out the hard way, but not without a little help from Aya-chan. Yaoi. Schuldig/Aya. *Complete*
1. Secret Admirer

AN: First Weiß Kreuz story, I hope that everyone will like it. Feedbacks are welcome of course ^_^

Prologue: Secret Admirer 

It was not an unusual scene. Four handsome young men who were known as the most popular florists in Tokyo, gathered together in a small basement, that normally served as their mission room. After the last battle with Schwarz, there hasn't been anything more exciting except for the typical data retrieval missions. But that was not the reason these four florist by day, assassins by night young men were gather here for.

It all started when gifts from a mysterious admirer began to pile up in front of Koneko no Sumi le's cash register for a certain red head. 

Right now the said gifts were sitting on the coffee table, while the four young men tried to find out who sent them to their quiet leader.

"Well, the most logical person would be Sakura-san, she's always bringing little things for Aya-kun," Omi thought out loud.

"Little things Omi. Trust me on things like this, it can't possibly be that little love sick girl," the experienced play boy smirked, his cigarette dangling in one hand as he lectured. "Little high school girls go for the homemade cookies, not Rolex, Belgium chocolates, and roses."

"It can be Manx," Ken put in as everyone gave him a strange look, which made him immediate explain. "Well, she's the only other woman besides Aya-chan and Sakura-san, whom Aya doesn't glare and yell at. I mean, who else can it be?"

The comment made the playboy chuckle. "Kenken, are you sure that you didn't get hit by your soccer ball one too many times? How should I put this? Manx… is like a female version of Aya." Yohji grinned despite the shi-ne glare that was sent his way by a certain red head swordsman. "All she thinks about are missions."

"Just because you never caught her attention doesn't mean that she's blind when it comes to the rest of us Yohji," Ken quickly jumped at the chance of making fun of the blond's proudest abilities.

"Well said Ken," a familiar female voice added as the door opened, and Manx walked in, carrying another wrapped box. "Another gift for you Aya. I found it outside."

"Is there a mission?" Aya spoke up for the first time getting up from the couch to move to his usual corner during mission briefing time.

"I don't always bring bad news," Manx said as she push him back into the couch. "Just came by to tell you that Kritiker decided to give all of you a short vacation, since nothing big has happened after Estet fell.

A cheer went up from both Ken and Omi. For the two younger assassins, it meant more time to play soccer with the kids and more time to study and surf the internet for other stuff besides missions. Vacation or no vacation didn't make that big of a difference in the playboy's life. After all, when did Yohji ever let something as insignificant as a mission get in the way of his flings and clubbing habits? But it would be nice to be bruise free for once. To Aya however, a short rest from missions meant more time to relax and watch over Aya-chan.

Ever since his sister woke up, he had sent her right away to one of the most prestigious all girls boarding school in Tokyo. Not that he didn't trust Aya-chan with his secret, but it was better for his imouto not to know about his real job.

Giving a curt nod to Manx, the red head got up from the couch, before remembering his gifts still sitting on the coffee table. Giving each a glare, he tossed the Rolex at Yohji, shoved the roses into Manx's arms, and handed the box of chocolates to Omi. As much as he hated to admit, the sender who was irritating, had a very nice taste, especially the Rolex, but it drove him crazy to know that someone was having fun at his expense.

"Hey! What do I get?!" an outraged Ken cried out as the goods were divided among the two other Weiß members and Manx.

Not looking over his shoulders as he walked out of the room, Aya threw his newest gift from his secret admirer, the one that Manx just brought with her, into the soccer player's lap.

The brunet grinned as he realized that the small box was still unopened. 

"Open it up Ken-kun!" the youngest member of Weiß prompted eagerly, curious to see what Aya got this time. 

"Whatever it is, it can't be getter than a Rolex," the playboy gloated.

"Oh yeah? Haven't you ever heard that the best gifts come in small boxes? I bet it's the keys to a new Porsche or something like that," Ken ripped off the pastel paper. Upon opening the lid, the soccer fanatic fell back into the couch with a nose bleed after just one look.

"Ken-kun!" Omi rushed up with a box of tissues to the brunet's side.

In the main while, a curious Yohji moved up from his comfortable sprawl on his side of the couch to pick up Aya's newest gift from the white silk scented with rose petals… a lacy black thong dangled from the end of a long finger, before the sound of Yohji's laughter could be heard shaking the whole Koneko Sume Ie. 

~*~*~*~

Frowning slightly at the sound of Yohji's laughter that he could here even two blocks from the flower shop. After he left the basement, the red head headed up to his bedroom thinking about getting some quiet time by himself to think about the sender of all of his gifts. But not even five second after he closed his bedroom door, his peace was shattered by Yohji's laughter. 

Annoyed that he couldn't even get some quiet time to himself, the red head grabbed his jacket from the closet and headed out of the shop, slamming the door as he left, loud enough to be heard from the basement. 

Outside, the cold winter air managed to calm down his anger a little. Walking along the snow covered street, he didn't exactly have a place in mind until his feet unconsciously took him to the Magic Bus Hospital. Usually, whenever he had anytime, he would always visit his sister. No matter how much he hated hospitals, it was the only place where he could get some peace with all the guilt he felt after completing missions. Anything was worth it as long as it was for Aya-chan. 

Thinking about his sister made the swordsman smile a little, not his usual little bitter smirk, but a genuine smile of happiness. She was now in school, but after two more weeks, she would be back to spend Christmas with him and the rest of the guys. Making a note to himself, he would have to have a little chat with Yohji to make the playboy behave if he doesn't want to have an 'accident' with Aya's katana later. 

Christmas… this was going to be the first real holiday that he would celebrate after his family was torn apart. Sure Omi always made a show of celebrating everyone's birthday and some other holidays, but to the red head, the happy atmosphere always made him think back to revenge and Takatori. Looking back, even he had to admit that at some of those times he was quite the jerk to ruin the mood and all of Omi's preparations. 

The display outside stores' windows caught Aya's attention, making him realize that after leaving the hospital, he was walking along one of Tokyo's busiest shopping streets. It was probably because most of the population were still at work during the morning, but the street was pretty deserted, quite to the quiet red head's liking. Usually whenever he went out, especially in the winter when everyone was buddle up in dark coats and jackets, his flaming red hair stood out like a beacon in a sea of black and white. But today there were no annoying high school girls and punks bugging him about where he dyed his hair. 

Glad that he still had enough sense when he left to bring his wallet along with him, Aya entered the first store he saw when the chilly wind turned his nose almost as bright as his hair. 

Gold, silver, and diamonds glittered up at him beneath glass display cases. It took the red head a few minutes under the intense lighting that he was in a high class jewellery store. He only realized his mistake a little too late as he was surrounded by sales ladies from all four directions, yelling in his ears about their latest Christmas sale. As if being swamped by high school girls during the day time wasn't enough. All of his previous frustration that was released during his cold walk was slowly coming creeping back. 

Too bad all the ladies clinging to the elegant red head didn't noticed how the corners of Aya's mouth tightened, or his face became even paler as they dragged him from one showcase to another. The poor swordsman was literally counting off the second until he would explode when a small yellow object caught his attention. 

Nesting in a velvet box, was a pair of earrings, not exactly unlike the ones that he wore. Except for one strand, these earrings were each made up of two strands of gold. 

"Are you interested in these earrings sir?" One of the sales lady asked as she noticed that the red head stopped in front of a display case. "They are on sale right now. And let me assure you, they make the perfect Christmas gift for anyone. Very elegant and simple, it'll go with any kind of clothing and occasion."

"I'll take them." 

Not even caring what the price was, all he did was to hand his credit card at the cash register, the red head picked up his gift and left as fast as possible before the crazy sales ladies could drag him around more.

That's one Christmas present down, now four more to go. If he had to go through what he just went through in the jewellery store four more times… then someone would die for sure before Christmas Eve.

Aya sighed tiredly as he walked in to a nearby café, just thinking about more holiday shopping was enough to give him a headache. Ordering some green tea, the red head made a beeline for a remote booth. He was tempted to go into any bookshop and just grabbed the nearest things on sale and wrap it up as presents. But if he did that, then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Aya-chan. The girl was a starch believer of the true Christmas spirit ever since she was little. Opening up the box, Aya looked at the earrings, since his imouto had woven up, he had insisted that she take back the earring that he was wearing in his left ear. But she was stubborn about not taking it back, saying that the look suited him, and even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he felt incomplete without the earring. It was the only thing that he had with him from his sister's accident, through Weiß, till now.

Finishing the last of his tea, the swordsman's thoughts came back to his most immediate problem. Who in the world would send him presents? At first, he thought that the it was just a mistake, the sender had written the wrong address, but it kept repeating, obviously whoever sent the gifts was serious. Then, the problem became more serious when the sender started to write anonymous little love messages. He had already considered the women Ken, Omi, and Yohji mentioned, and came to the same conclusion as them. Then who could it possibly be? He didn't know anyone besides Weiß and his sister, he didn't have any other relatives besides Aya-chan, and he was sure that no one could be in love with a cold blooded murder like him. Then who?

Looking up with a frown on his face, Aya waved for the waitress to bring his bill, only to have the blushing teenager telling him that another gentleman already paid for his tea.

The words made the frown deepen into a scowl. A gentleman? That was a possibility that he and the other Weiß members hadn't though of… but… that's impossible… 

"Nothing is impossible."

The sound of the low, husky voice made the red head freeze and cursed at himself quietly. Thinking so hard, Aya didn't even notice that another person had slipped into the seat opposite of him. But the voice sounded familiar… a feeling of dread filled his stomach as Aya slowly looked up, right into a pair of jaded green eyes… and swore.

"Hello to you too, Abyssinian," Schuldig purred out with his ever present smirk.


	2. Ho! Ho! Ho!

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! I never expected to hear so many responses from readers. ^_^ Can you tell how happy I am? Anyways, be warned, there are some OOCness in this chapter ^^;; Especially with Aya.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"What the hell are you doing here Schuldig?" His quiet tone all but implied that the Weiß red head wanted nothing more than to hack the longhaired German into tiny pieces right there, right now.  
  
"What nasty thoughts kitten. I just wanted to see you, since you acted so coldly towards the gifts I sent you, and I want to know where I did wrong. Any other person would be throwing themselves into my arms by now," Schuldig grinned and reached across to put his hand over Aya's shaking one.  
  
"Well have you thought of the fact that maybe I'm DIFFERENT from normal people? That there was no name or address on the stuff you sent. And I would never accept things from anyone, least of all from Schwarz." Aya hissed as calmly as he could, his urge to kill wasn't being helped by the fact that he couldn't pull his hand back from the German's strong grip.  
  
"What's so different about you?" Schuldig gave the other a sharp look. "You eat, talk, walk, and sleep, the only difference is that you have a slightly more exciting career than the average human. And if you don't accept things from strangers, how do you explain the fact that you didn't throw them away when you first received them?"  
  
"Because." Aya broke off, this was extremely weird to him to be sitting in a café chatting with an enemy. "I'm not obligated to answer you. Let go of me now or." the glacial glare finished the sentence.  
  
""Or shi-ne?" the other red heard laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't read your mind. It doesn't matter if you won't answer now, I'll know the answer sooner or later."  
  
"Why don't you just read my mind right now and get it over with Schuldig? I don't have time to play around with you."  
  
"Are you offering yourself to me kitten? Is it because you have to visit your precious imouto-chan? Isn't she in Meio Academy now that she's out of her coma? I should pay her a visit too, and ask her what her onii-chan likes," the words were barely out of Schuldig's mouth before he found himself suddenly jerked up by the collar of his jacket by an extremely pissed off kitty.  
  
"You touch one hair on her head you bastard and I'll make sure that the rest of your days will be worse than Hell." Aya threatened quietly, the calm expression even scarier than usual. If he looked around, he would've noticed all the other customers and workers backing away from the two red heads slowly.  
  
Not one to miss a good opportunity, the German smirked, before giving Aya's nose a little lick. The Japanese man jumped back in surprise and Schuldig used the chance to free himself and drop back down into his seat, fixing his jacket.  
  
"Your warning is a little too late," Schuldig murmured to himself, before gesturing Aya to sit down too. "I'm not here to fight with you today. Do you have time next Saturday?"  
  
The Weiß redhead gave the German a blank look. "Why? And what makes you think that you will be able to kidnap me after informing me about it first?"  
  
"Because if you are free then I'm inviting you to join me," Schuldig sighed painfully when the other man still had a confused expression, the man was sheltered for sure, but this was too much to believe. "I'm asking you out on a date, not kidnapping, and I think that it will be very hard for you to refuse. I trust that you recognize this." The German reached into his pocket and pulled out a small strand of gold.  
  
Instantly, Aya's hand flew to his ear, where the complementary earring was dangling. There was no doubt that the jewel Schuldig was holding belonged to Aya-chan.  
  
"I see that you know this," the European placed the earring back into his pocket carefully before getting up. "I'll see you next Saturday then. I'll send you the exact address and time later this week." With that, the smiling German man walked out of the restaurant leaving Aya alone to imagine the state that his imouto was in.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The bell on the door jingled merrily announcing a new costumer arriving at the Koneko no Sumi le, making a certain red head drop his broom, he unusual act making all the other florists in the shop look at their leader in concern.  
  
"Aya-kun, are you feeling okay? You have been acting very nervous these couple of days," Omi asked. Ever since the older Weiß member came home from a walk a few days ago, Aya seemed to have sunk back into his old brooding self when his sister was still unconscious. The only time he would come out of his room was for the meals and his shifts in the flower shop. But every time the other members of Weiß asked him, they would be treated to the same shi-ne glare and told to back off. It worried the youngest of the four always acting as the mother hen to the older guys, who thought that Aya-kun was actually opening up to the rest of them.  
  
"I'm okay," the red head snapped and went to join the group of high school girls in the shop to avoid being questioned further.  
  
Yohji, Ken, and Omi shared a worried look between themselves. Whatever the redhead was suffering from, it must be something serious, or else for someone like Aya who valued his personal space so much to willingly let the merciless giggling girls surround him.  
  
"Leave it to me, I'll get him out of his shell," the blond playboy mouthed to the two youngest members before being swept away by his hoard of female admirers.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
There was still no message from the Schwarz telepath. Aya didn't know whether he should be glad or scared. But one thing was for sure, Schuldig was not going to let him go so easily.  
  
"Aya!"  
  
The red head looked up into a pair of annoyed green eyes. "What do you want?"  
  
"Nothing except for the fact that I've been calling your name for the last five minutes," Yohji said sarcastically. "You seem so out of it man. What's bothering you? Come on, the Chibi is inside, you can tell me," The playboy put on his best man to man tone and slung an arm good-naturedly across his team-mate's shoulders.  
  
"Why does everyone think that something is wrong with me?" the younger man demanded emotionlessly, throwing Yohji's arm off of his shoulders.  
  
"Don't tell me that you're seeing someone right now!" the blond didn't take the hint to shut up when Aya froze in his tracks. "Bingo! I knew it! You can't fool me when it comes to woman. So what is she like Aya? Must be something special to turn you into a person who looks like he just lost his soul," Yohji went on when he mistakenly took the blush on Aya's cheeks to be of embarrassment and not anger. If only he knew how close he was from being gutted alive.  
  
"You know, there's a Christmas party at the new club Illusions tomorrow, why don't you bring your girl along, and we can double date or something. Kenken and the Chibi can just rent a movie and stay at home," he didn't get to finish when Aya suddenly stuffed a roll of ribbons into his mouth. It was the best thing that the red head could find that was useful at the moment.  
  
Spitting out the ribbons angry, Yohji shouted at Aya's back as the red head started to sweep the shop for closing. "If you didn't want to go then you could've just said so. Why the hell did you have to stuff this thing into my mouth? How can I pleasure all of my lady friends if my mouth is hurt?!"  
  
"Hn," A very satisfied Aya continued to sweep.  
  
"Hum, excuse me?" the door opened again to allow in a deliveryman.  
  
"Sorry, but unless you're a cute lady, we're closed for today," Yohji answered when Aya didn't do anything but glare daggers at the wrapped box the delivery man was holding.  
  
"Um. I have a package to deliver to a Fujimiya Aya-san," the man asked timidly slowly back away from the red head who was giving off an aura of a mad tiger.  
  
"He's the guy you're looking for," Yohji gestured to Aya, watching in amusement as the man inched up to his teammate shaking.  
  
Human's were still full of surprises after all these millennia, Yohji mused to himself when he saw how fast the delivery man ran out of the shop after Aya signed the papers.  
  
"You know that thing isn't coming alive to bite you," the blond joked when he saw the redhead stand still, holding his gift at arm's length. "So what did you get this time? Do you have any idea who's the sender yet?"  
  
Oh, he knew only too well, Aya thought, but like he was going to tell the rest of Weiß that he was being courted by one of their enemies. Without answering, Aya turned and went up the stairs to his own room, leaving the playboy yelling at him to finish the clean up for closing.  
  
Once the lock was securely in place on his bedroom door, something inside the package began to ring. For a second, Aya considered throwing the whole damn thing out of the window, but thought the better of it, who knew what Schuldig would do to Aya-chan if he was angry.  
  
Cursing at the elaborate bows and wrapping paper, it was at the fifteenth ring when the swordsman finally succeeded in unwrapping the box, there was no card, but lying on the layers of tissue paper was a cell phone.  
  
"What do you want?" Aya growled into the phone angrily.  
  
"What happened to 'hello, I missed you darling?'" the German's voice teased laughingly in the receiver.  
  
"I'm going to hang up now," the red head said coldly.  
  
"No, don't hang up yet!"  
  
For a second, the Japanese man was surprised at the urgent tone in Schuldig's voice.  
  
"My, I didn't know that you cared kitten."  
  
"Why are you calling me when you can just read my mind?" The question came out before he could stop it.  
  
"Want to treat this as a normal relationship, it's more challenging."  
  
Why wasn't he surprised that that would be the telepath's reason. "How did you know when to call then if you didn't read my mind?" Aya asked for the lack of anything better to say.  
  
"I'll tell you my secret if you give me a kiss first."  
  
"Dream on Schwarz."  
  
"You don't have to worry about that kitten, I dream about that every single night and day, and also much, much more."  
  
The confession uttered in that deep sexy voice should've left Aya feeling disgusted, but instead it left the inexperienced young man speechless. To his horror, even though he couldn't say anything to give away his pounding heart, his cheeks felt rather warm.  
  
"Glad to know that I have that effect on you Kitten, I may be able to turn the dream into reality after all," Schuldig said in the cell phone.  
  
Damn! "I thought you just said no more mind reading?"  
  
"Stop thinking about it Aya. Aren't you curious to know what your present is?" Was that an eager tone he just heard?  
  
Cautiously, he still wasn't ready to fully trust the German yet, Aya folded back the tissue paper.  
  
"Schuldig?" Aya spoke into the cell phone with a warm voice.  
  
"Yes kitten? Do you like it? Do you want to try it on?"  
  
"Thank you for the gift, but I don't want to try it on when you're not here," the younger man said in the same sweet pleading voice, a trick he learnt from Aya-chan. It seemed to work whenever she wanted something.  
  
Just as Aya expected, there was no answer in the phone except for heavy, rapid breathing before the connection went dead. Smirking, Aya picked up his katana and waited patiently beside the window, hiding the sword behind him.  
  
Exactly thirty seconds later, the window was opened, and long legs swung in before the Schwarz telepath let himself into Aya's bedroom. to be warmly greeted by Abyssinian in full killing mode.  
  
"Shi-ne Schwarz!" Aya cried out bringing his katana down.  
  
Always being the faster of the two, the German easily avoided the weapon, before knocking it out of Aya's hand and pinning his hands against the red head's side. Blinded by anger, Aya kept struggling wildly, in an attempt to kick Schuldig in the groin, but ended up making both of them falling onto his bed.  
  
"Get off of me!" Aya panted trying to throw the telepath off of his body.  
  
Schuldig smirked at the other red head struggling fruitlessly with hands pinned above his head. "I'd rather not, I'm just beginning to enjoy the feeling of you moving beneath me kitten," the German provoked, bending down to give Aya a quick peck on the lips, and moving away before being bitten. He has already tasted the kitten's fangs and claws in the past, and not in a hurry to do so again. "How did you know that I was near?"  
  
"Like Hell I'm going to tell you!" came the biting reply.  
  
"I'm sure that if you won't answer, I can always ask Aya-chan to ask you," Schuldig hinted darkly.  
  
"You said once that when you are communicating telepathetically, you have to be near the other person."  
  
"That's a good kitten, see it wasn't that hard was it?" Schuldig said, slowly climbing off of Aya, using the opportunity to rub his body along the Japanese man's purposefully, enjoying the rage he saw in the Weiß leader's amethyst eyes. "Since I'm here now, aren't you going to hold up your end of the bargain?"  
  
"What bargain?" Aya growled out, trying unsuccessfully to free himself from the German's metal hold.  
  
"Don't tell me that you forgot it already! Didn't you say that you wanted to change into your present in front of me?" the telepath leered down, holding the short Mrs. Claus costume up for the other redhead to see. "You're coming to the Christmas party with me next week at Illusions."  
  
"I never agreed to go anywhere with you bastard, and what makes you think that I'll go into public wearing something like that."  
  
"Oh no?" Schuldig feigned a hurt look. "Then I guess I'll just have to give this costume to Aya-chan and ask her to go with me." Putting the red costume trimmed with white fur into the box, the German made to leave, and freed his mental hold on the swordsman.  
  
Before he was even able to take two steps, the box containing the Mrs. Claus costume was snatched away from him. Grinning as he turned around, Schuldig couldn't help but take a peak into the Japanese man's mind as Aya opened the box and took out the red velvet dress lined trimmed with white fur. What he found in Aya's mind could barely stop him from jumping his kitten right there and then. If he did however, even his excuse using Aya- chan wouldn't be able to save him.  
  
This got to be the most embarrassing thing ever. The red head Weiß thought, even though he had no control over the wild beating of his heart. Why was he feeling so giddy right now? He wasn't one of those high school girls in the shop, he was suppose to be a cold blooded assassin God damn it! And Schuldig wasn't helping with that knowing leer on his face either. The Weiß red head opened his door angry. before it was slammed shut.  
  
"Where do you think that you are going?" Schuldig whispered in Aya's ear softly as he pulled the younger man into his arms.  
  
For a surprised second, Aya leaned against the strong solid chest behind him, unconsciously enjoying the strength and warmth of the hard muscular body that supported him. before snapping back to reality. "To the bathroom to change. You're the one who wanted to see me in your degrading costume right?" the Japanese man snapped, trying to hid the fact that he was blushing to the colour of his hair while trying to pull away from the German's embrace.  
  
"Somehow, I recall someone said that he wanted to change IN FRONT of me. And I'm sure that you don't want the rest of your team-mates walking in on you in the bathroom do you?"  
  
Sadistic bastard, if only Aya-chan was safe, then he would be free to. oh there was too many ways that he could extract his revenge. But for now, he had to stomach this humiliation first.  
  
"You want me to change in front of you?" Aya asked slowly, taking deep breaths, trying to calm his urge to kill.  
  
"That's what I came for isn't it?" Schuldig grinned back, a little impatient.  
  
"Turn around."  
  
"What?" the telepath uttered out in surprise.  
  
"Turn around. I said that I'll change in front of you, but I never said that you're allowed to watch me," for a moment, Aya almost gave into the desire to laugh at the stupefied look on the German's face.  
  
Dumbly Schuldig did what he was told, he never expected this from Aya, and there was no need to say that he was disappointed at such a good chance to ogle at the subject of all his fantasies. Damn, when did the sound of ruffling clothes sound so sexy? From the soft sounds of Aya's shirt falling onto the ground. and the zipper being pulled down on his pants, Schuldig looked around the neat bedroom for something to distract him before he lost control, the sight of the bed wasn't helping either. The jaded eyes widened as it fell upon the window. where he was just in time to see his kitten bend down to take off the black jeans. The telepath didn't know if it was his luck to be able to see the gorgeous backside or torture that he couldn't touch that perfect ass that would soon belong to him.  
  
"Schuldig!"  
  
"Hun?" the German replied intelligently.  
  
"I need help," Aya admitted hesitantly.  
  
Schuldig was more than eager to help. Of course he already knew what the swordsman needed help with. He could see it in the perfect reflection on the window.  
  
"At your service my kitten," the telepath joked before setting out to tie the laces at the back of the Mrs. Claus costume.  
  
Breathe Aya breathe. The redhead reminded himself, but whether it was to calm his anger or the tingling feeling that ran through his body every time Schuldig 'accidentally' brushed his hand against his bare back.  
  
Giving the laces a final tug, the German whispered regretfully in the younger man's ear. "I'm finished."  
  
But just when Aya was about to turn around, firm warm hands on his hips prevented any movements.  
  
"Schuldig, what are you doing?" the question came out slightly breathless, he could feel the telepath's heart beating against his back.  
  
"You're not thinking about wearing these to the party are you?"  
  
Before Aya could do anything, the hands on his hips peeled down his boxers.  
  
The room was quiet except for Aya's slightly laboured breathing. All he wanted to do was to run out of the room as fast as possible, but for some reason, he couldn't move a muscle as he felt the hands return to his hips again, only this time, it was flesh against flesh.  
  
"Aya-kun? Are you in there? Dinner's ready!"  
  
Takatori. The telepath silently cursed Omi in his mind for ruining his perfect moment. The call from the youngest Weiß member managed to give Aya the force he needed to break away from Schuldig and glare at the Schwarz telepath with his usual iciness.  
  
"You're not going to wear your boxers next week are you?" The German smirked.  
  
"What I wear is none of your business."  
  
"What about my last present?"  
  
The Japanese man frowned as the tried to remember what Schuldig sent him before, and blushed when he remembered. "If you're talking about the thong, I gave it to Ken."  
  
(Somewhere downstairs, the brunet sneezed into his tea.)  
  
"You gave it to Siberian?!" An unbelievable expression was on Schuldig's face that for a moment Aya was actually worried. before Schuldig started to crack up. "You gave it to the jock?!" the older man began to laugh, the mental picture was just too much. "Does he wear it?" He could help but ask with a wicked gleam in those jaded eyes.  
  
Aya shrugged, trying to squash the thought of how cute Schuldig was when he was laughing, it took away all the hardness from his handsome face. "How am I suppose to know? It's not like I'm interested."  
  
"I hope not," Schuldig teased. "I was expecting something like this from you. That's why there are some new ones along with other accessories in the box. But." the telepath put on a leer and traced the long pale legs with jaded eyes. "You can always show up with nothing under, I assure you now that I will have no objections."  
  
"SHI-NE!"  
  
Anticipating the result beforehand, the Schwarz member was already out the window before Aya could even unshielded his katana.  
  
"Ja kitten, I'll see you at Illusions next week."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm back!"  
  
A young girl with two braids and sparkling wide eyes turned off the television and ran up to greet Schuldig and take off his jacket. "Welcome back. Did you get to see him Schu-chan? How is onii-chan? Is my plan working? Does he like the present?" Questions shot out of her mouth making the German chuckle.  
  
"I'm still in one piece. So I guess that he took everything better than we initially expected," Schuldig answered good-naturedly and bent down to kiss the girl on her forehead. "I feel sorry for your brother Aya-chan. Does Ran even know what a devious little mind you have?"  
  
"This is what you get for being around the devil for too long, Schu-chan. And plus, I can't help it if onii-chan is always so stubborn, I'm just giving him a little push into the right direction." The girl defended herself giggling. "If I don't help you, I'll be in my grave before I can call you onii-chan too."  
  
"I thank God that you're on my side," Schuldig prayed mockingly, before being smacked playfully by Aya-chan.  
  
"You were the one who kidnapped me to help you to will Ran over, so stop complaining.!"  
  
"What a harsh word Aya-chan, I prefer to call it a non-consensual visit."  
  
"Whatever." The girl rolled her eyes, before she pulled the German into the living room to plan out the rest of their trap for the unsuspecting Abyssinian.  
  
AN: If Aya is going to be Mrs. Claus. I wonder who is going to be Santa? ^_~ 


	3. Jingle Bells and Mistletoes

AN: I thought that I could finish this story before Christmas ^^;; But at the rate that I'm going, I'd say that New Years is a more realistic goal for me. At least I'll be finished soon, a chapter or two more ^_~  
  
Thanks to: Quaterine Winner, S.Wing, Makoto Almasy, LilStarry, an anonymous reviewer ^^;;, Aidenn-chan, another anonymous reviewer, Pandora.81, Fiona, Rikkali, Eriol-sama, Nekojita, and Lady Gacket  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Aya-kun, we're leaving now."  
  
The redhead sat up tensely when he heard Omi's voice through the closed door.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to go with us to the club?" the youngest member of Weiß asked. When Yohji said he was going to a Christmas party that night, he never expected to have an enthusiastic Omi begging to go along, even after he sat down with the Chibi and explained in detail that Illusions was not a place for innocent little kittens. And whenever there was Omi, Ken always tagged along too. The playboy had no intentions of babysitting teenagers, especially when he had a hot date with him, but one look at Omi's big blue eyes had him all mushy inside, that he couldn't have refused. Of course, the fact that Omi threatened to send all of his pictures with other women to his current date had a tiny effect too.  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
Omi sighed when he heard the muffled answer. He was worried about the older man. Whatever was bothering Aya was getting worse. Every time someone mentioned the words 'clubbing' and 'party' the swordsman would visibly tense. And even the oblivious Ken noticed it. Yohji commented that it was like someone had stepped on a cat's tail 24/7, that was, if Aya had a tail.  
  
The sound of the slamming door calmed the redhead somewhat to know that he was finally alone and could think. There was only an hour left before he had to meet Schuldig. And even though he has been ready for hours, he couldn't do anything to stop the feeling of uneasiness. Especially when someone knocked on the door.  
  
Costume, check. Hat, check. Gun, check. Shoes, check. Th. Aya blushed as he squirmed on the bed. How the hell was he supposes to last through out the whole night if he couldn't even lay still for a few seconds on the bed? And it didn't help in keeping his mind off of the German kidnapper either. As much as the Weiß redhead hated the telepath, he had to admit that Schuldig has been the only person besides Aya-chan to bring out such strong emotions from him. And not all of those emotions were hate and anger either, but rather a warm belonging feeling that he hasn't felt ever since his family was destroyed. It confused him that he would associate Schuldig in the same sentence as his family and happiness, especially since it was the German who destroyed everything in the first place. Ironic now that the person who killed his feelings was responsible for bringing them back again.  
  
Aya sighed as he got up. He always get a headache when he thought about the past. It was better to just leave it behind and focus on the present. like how to walk in these damned red high heel boots. The red head swore under his breath as he almost tripped again. After Schuldig left the other day, he found that besides the red Mrs. Claus dress, there were also a red hat and red furry boots that were also parts of the costume. The hat wasn't that bad, it was red velvet, long and had a white ball sewn at the end, it would hid his hair. It was the boots that bothered him. Like the rest of the costume, it was red and lined with white fur at the top. But what the hell was the Schwarz thinking with the high heels? He could barely take five steps without falling, anyone would be a moron if they couldn't tell that he was a man. And that was the last thing he wanted. If Yohji found out that he was there at the club dressed up like this. lets just say that there would be one less playboy in the world, not that it was a bad thing, he would be saving the a lot of woman from heartbreaks, and others from becoming the victims of second hand smoking.  
  
The sound of doorbells snapped the red head from his musings, and cautiously open his bedroom door and walked downstairs. There was no way he would meet anyone dressed in this get up. And there was the possibility that it was either Yohji or Omi coming back to get something. but they should have their own keys and didn't need to knock. Grabbing the broom as he past the kitchen, Aya felt silly that an assassin like him needed to depend on a broom just to open the door.  
  
It was a good thing that no one was home to take pictures of him. or else he would be forced to murder all of his teammates. And speaking about the joy of killing, he was aching to dice Schuldig for the new stunt that the German just pulled.  
  
Blocking the traffic on the street was a team of four horn wearing chestnut horses shaking their head at Aya, the bells on their harness and reins jingled merrily, which was attached to a red buggy, decorated especially for the Christmas season.  
  
"Aya-san? Aya-san?" a cheerful looking man dressed in a Nutcracker uniform waved a bouquet of lavender roses in front of the Japanese man who had a droll expression on his face. "These are compliments of Mr. Santa Claus."  
  
Was this punishment from God for killing people? Aya kept pinching himself to wake up from this Christmas nightmare. But every time he opened his eyes, the horses and buggy were still there.  
  
"We should go now Aya-san," the driver smiled and led the Japanese man to the buggy, helping the numb assassin into the buggy like a gentleman. Behind them, the piled up cars beeped madly for the 'Sleigh' to move, but Aya didn't hear any of it. Only one thought occupied his mind.  
  
"Looks like we're in luck today Aya-san."  
  
The driver's voice momentarily took the swordsman from his fantasy of mutilating a certain telepath, and looked towards the direction the man pointed. Aya groaned to himself as he pulled his hat down till it covered half of his face and slipped down as far as possible in the buggy.  
  
"I forgot all about the Christmas parade today," the driver said. "The fastest way to get to Illusions is by Main Street, so I guess we'll just have to join the parade until we turn. They even have the TV broadcasting crew this year!"  
  
Great, just more punishment from God. Why didn't he just stand up and announce it to the entire city of Tokyo that Aya Fujimiya, Abyssinian, leader of an assassin group Weiß was dressed up as Mrs. Claus and was currently parading down the largest street in Tokyo. It would save the TV crew the work of filming and broadcasting it on national television.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
It wasn't hard to know that they finally arrived at Illusions. From what Yohji had bragged about the nightclub and from his own personal understanding of Schuldig's character, Aya wasn't surprised when he saw the long line of people that extended from the club entrance all the way to the next block, and even the redhead could recognize some of Japanese television and singing idols among the long line of young people. From the shivering, it was safe to say that some of these idiots have been waiting for quite a while in the cold, but the bouncers who looked like mafia members stepping out straight from the God Father prevented the people from pouring into the club.  
  
Maybe that was the reason behind all the jealous glares Mrs. Claus received when the driver carefully helped Aya out of the buggy and escorted him through the line until one of the bouncers opened the door courteously for the redhead. Once the door closed behind him, the swordsman did nothing but stood rooted to the ground, trying to adjust to the dark lighting and loud Christmas remixes blaring from the speakers. The place was crowded with people, all young and beautiful, ready to enjoy what life had to offer.  
  
How was he suppose to find the German like this? In this sea of sweating bodies? For a moment, Aya was a little surprised to see that all the employees working were decked out in Christmas costumes just like his.  
  
One of the elves carrying a loaded tray of alcohol noticed the motionless Mrs. Claus. With a knowing smile, the girl handed her tray to a fellow elf and walked up to Aya. "Are you looking for Santa, Mrs. Claus?"  
  
Santa? What was she talking about? Just when the redhead was about to ask, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled to a soft protruding belly. Something soft tickled his neck as someone rested their head on Aya's shoulder. "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!"  
  
Aya's eyes widened when he realized just who it was. The elf girl giggled quietly to herself before getting back to her work but not before giving Santa Claus a suggesting wink.  
  
The redhead stared at the elf confused, she felt familiar somehow, but first things first, a quick elbow drove into Santa's stomach. "Merry Christmas to you too Schuldig Now take your hand out from under the skirt, unless you want Santa Claus to spend the rest of the week in prison on charges of molesting." Aya growled out hands itching to do some damage to the telepath.  
  
"I'm sure that the police won't do anything to me, after all, it's not against the laws for a man to express his love to his partner is it?" Schuldig argued cheerfully under the white beard, but still removed his hand from Aya's skirt regretfully. At least his curiosity has been satisfied, a lecherous smile appeared on Santa's jolly red face, he never expected Aya to wear it, the image of the younger man walking around in that little thing was enough for the German to jump Mrs. Claus right there.  
  
Maybe it was the gleam in his eyes that revealed his evil intentions because before he knew it, Aya pulled away from him and smacked him rather hard on the head.  
  
A silly grin on his face, Santa followed Mrs. Claus deeper into the club. Aya barely took five steps before staring in horror in front of him, making Schuldig almost walk into the swordsman. Curious to what made his kitten froze in shock, Schuldig wasn't surprised to see the other three members of Weiß sitting at the bar. Always one to take advantage of rare opportunities, the German dragged the reluctant Aya onto the dance floor where they could be swallowed up by the other dancing couples.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
This was worse than he imagined, Yohji groaned to himself. There was nothing worse than not being able to do anything under the otherwise perfect chances. It was so hard getting into Illusions, but instead of partying the night away, he was stuck sitting at the bar listening to Anne- Marie argue with Ken about the previous World Cup results.  
  
"Hey! Don't you have some orange juice or something for the kid? Can't you see that he's too young for alcohol?" The blond playboy snapped at the beefy bartender who was wearing reindeer horns.  
  
"Yohji-kun! If I'm old enough to get in, then I'm old enough for alcohol!" Omi whined and tried to grab the daiquiri away from the older man, who unfortunately had a longer arm.  
  
"You're not drinking anything alcohol. I don't want to be embarrassed by a drunk teenager tonight," Yohji said in a stern tone before drinking Omi's strawberry daiquiri himself. If he couldn't enjoy himself tonight, then he was going to make sure that neither Ken nor Omi does too. After all, they were the reason why he couldn't be with his date.  
  
"But what can I do? You scared away almost every single person who even tried to talk to me, and now, I'm not even allowed to drink," the youngest Weiß member pouted, trying to use the big blue eyes trick again.  
  
Too bad that Yohji was too anger this time. "Go bother Santa then. I'm sure that I saw him at the club. Why don't you go sit on his lap like a good little boy and tell him what you want for Christmas or something."  
  
"Even Santa is having more fun than me," Omi grumbled and pointed to the little crowd that formed on the dance floor. Everyone, even some of the workers stared at the centre of the floor where Santa seemed to be lost in his own little world dancing with a VERY young and sexy Mrs. Claus. even though everyone could see the flash of pain on Santa's jolly face every time Mrs. Claus 'accidentally' stepped on Santa's foot.  
  
"Hello Mrs. Claus," beside him, Omi heard Yohji's low whistle of appreciation before the playboy got up from his seat and headed towards the dance floor.  
  
Omi grinned, now that the cat was away, the mouse could finally have some fun.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"So Aya, how did you enjoy your moment of fame today?" Schuldig asked in the redhead's ear as he moved the younger man with him to the beat of the music.  
  
The violet eyes narrowed at the telepath's smug grin before the heel of his boot came down hard onto Santa's foot for the twentieth time since they started dancing. "You planned it didn't you?"  
  
"Didn't you enjoy it though kitten? I thought that it would be a nice change for you to be seen as a positive figure by the public rather than be always mistaken for someone society frowns on."  
  
Aya rolled his eyes. "Next time you plan something like this, why don't you try it out first. I'm sure that you would enjoy having little kids climb all over you asking why Mrs. Claus was so young compared to Santa. And do you even know how annoying it was to have the men catcalling and taking pictures?! Not to mention being interviewed by the new station, and being offered to be a model for a 'for him' magazine."  
  
"I knew that you would be popular with the male population," Schuldig chuckled at the scowl on Aya's face. "I just didn't expect that you were that big of a hit."  
  
"And you're happy? Shouldn't you be jealous?" the younger man momentarily forgot his discomfort at dancing in front of a large crowd and looked at the telepath in mild surprise.  
  
"Why? The more people desire you, the happier I am. It shows that I have good taste falling for you," the German winked even though there was no amusement in his serious tone. "As long as they know that you belong to me already and don't try to do anything." The German said the last part and pulled Aya roughly against him.  
  
The younger man stumbled at the sudden movement and clung to Schuldig for support. Looking up to yell at the Schwarz for the pull, Aya was surprise to see that Santa was looking over his head.  
  
Turning to see whom Schuldig was glaring at, Aya blushed and quickly turned back and hid his flaming face against the telepath's neck. What the hell was Yohji doing on the dance floor by himself? The redhead has been so caught up with Schuldig that he totally forgot about the rest of his teammates were at the club too. But wasn't Yohji suppose to be with his date?  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Yohji looked back at Santa Claus in surprise as jolly old Saint Nick suddenly fixed him with an evil glare. The Weiß playboy wondered amusingly to what he could've done to deserve such a hateful look. He has been a good boy all year, and all he did was compliment to himself about Mrs. Claus' sexy body as she danced with Santa.  
  
The playboy carefully watched the couple as Santa led Mrs. Claus to a nearby by booth. The blond grinned as he saw the woman look back at him and blush when she was caught staring. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have Anne-Marie distracted by Kenken after all.  
  
Yohji saw the opening he needed when an elf waitress bent to whisper something in Santa's ear, before the man stood up to leave. Putting on his best smile, the Weiß playboy causally slipped into the seat next to Mrs. Claus.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
This couldn't be happening to him. Aya groaned as he saw Yohji coming towards him. Where was Schuldig when you needed him? The bastard didn't even say a thing when he was called away by the same elf that Aya first met at the club. The swordsman never thought that he would live to see the day when he was dependent on a member or Schwarz to save him from his own teammate.  
  
"Nice party isn't it?"  
  
The redhead almost jumped when Yohji spoke, and quickly nodded, not daring to speak out loud.  
  
"Have we met before? I feel like I've seen you somewhere," the playboy offered his hand.  
  
For a moment Aya stared at the offered hand nervously. Should he shake hands with the blond? Or would it be rude to ignore him? Choosing the latter, Aya didn't think Omi would be happy if Yohji didn't come home tonight. But on the other hand, the youngest member of Weiß seemed pretty occupied himself with the elf that called away Schuldig.  
  
"Would you like to dance with me gorgeous?"  
  
He just didn't get the point did he? Aya thought annoyed. "Sorry, I don't dance with strangers."  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm Yohji Kudou," the blond immediately realized his mistake. "And you are.?"  
  
"I didn't finish," Mrs. Claus smirked. "I don't dance with strangers who already have a jealous girlfriend either."  
  
Turning towards the direction Mrs. Claus was pointing to, the playboy waved nervously to his date who by the look on her face was ready to march up and give him a piece of her mind. Stupid Ken, why was he just sitting there and grinning like the idiot he was instead of distracting Anne-Marie?  
  
"What's going on here love?"  
  
Aya sighed in relief when he heard Schuldig's voice, but glared at Santa when he heard the last word. Grinning back behind the white beard, the German pulled the younger man up into his arms, knowing that Aya wouldn't do anything to expose his true identity in front of Balinese. "Are you looking for my replacement already darling? Kitties have such fickle hearts sometimes," the telepath took this perfect opportunity to tilt Aya's head back and bent down for a kiss, swallowing the surprised gasp from Mrs. Claus.  
  
God. all he wished right now is to be stroked by a thunderbolt from heaven and die right on the spot. What the Hell was the German bastard doing, kissing him in front of his own teammate. Aya could feel Schuldig giving the blond man a challenging look, while a hand snuck under his skirt and kneeled his backside. If it weren't for the fact that he was so out of breath and weakened from the kissed, the telepath would be a pile of rotting meat by now.  
  
"Only bad boys try to steal Santa's wife. Aren't you afraid of getting a switch in your stockings this year, little boy?" Santa smirked at Yohji, before pulling Aya away with him.  
  
"Schuldig! What were you doing?" the swordsman accused as soon as they were out of sight.  
  
"Nothing except for saving a kitten in need of course. If it weren't for me, Balinese would be molesting you to death by now," Santa Claus said as matter of fact, making himself sound like a prince on a white horse.  
  
"And I guess your hand just accidentally got up my skirt while it was just part of your plan when you were trying to suffocate me to death with that. that." Aya blushed as he tried to force himself say that word.  
  
"Kiss?" the telepath smirked as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. Violet eyes widened as Aya took in the quiet elegant room that was total contrast to the noisy downstairs. Dropping into a comfy chair, Santa pulled Mrs. Claus into his lap. "Like this?" With a smirk, Schuldig proceeded to demonstrate again.  
  
"I'm going to kill you one day," a panting Aya whispered when he was finally released.  
  
"I highly doubt that," Schuldig whispered in the younger man's mind before pulling down his kitten for another kiss.  
  
"Schuldig! Stop it!" Grabbing a handful of the white beard, the swordsman jerked the German back before he could be assaulted again.  
  
The telepath chuckled amused and pointed at the ceiling. where the accursed mistletoe hung. One day, he would burn all of those damn plants.. One day. And people wondered why he hated Christmas so much.  
  
"What's wrong Mrs. Claus? Afraid of being kissed?" Schuldig teased. "Now that I think about it, everytime I kiss you, you're always so tense. Don't tell me that I'm your first kiss."  
  
"Of course not!"  
  
The quickness of that response made Schuldig chuckle, his suspicions confirmed. "Kisses from a sibling and family members don't count kitten."  
  
"I've been kissed by other people!" Aya defended himself before wanting to smack himself mentally for being so stupid. Why was he so worked up at a little teasing? From an enemy no less!  
  
"Oh? Who?"  
  
"None of your business," the younger man said quietly, not wanting Schuldig to hurt other people because of him.  
  
"You know, if I really wanted to know, I can just dig it up from your memories, but I'd rather not," the telepath threatened quietly. "And you don't have to worry, I'm not going to kill everyone who touched you.. As long as they don't come back to claim what is mine."  
  
The redhead on his lap sighed in relief, and quietly whispered something that the German couldn't hear.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Play. It was a school play, I was playing Romeo, and I had to kiss the girl who was playing Juliet." Aya finally admitted grudgingly.  
  
Schuldig stared at his kitten in shock before rich laughter interrupted the quiet sensual music in the little resting room. Who would've thought that Aya had that in him? "How would you like to switch and play Juliet now?" He barely had time to finish his question before an elbow slammed into his stomach. The telepath was grateful for the pillow that he had to stick under his Christmas suit for his role as Santa, or else he would have a pretty black bruise the next morning.  
  
"Pervert."  
  
"Only with you kitten, only with you," as to demonstrate his point, sly hands already reached up to pull the laces behind Aya's little red dress.  
  
"You do that and I'll make sure you will spend the rest of your life in bed."  
  
"I don't mind as long as you're in there with me." This time, it didn't take his talents to block the punch to his face. "I'm sure that you'll see from my point soon enough. But right now, I think we should be going soon."  
  
"Where are we going?" Aya asked, a little curious, but stopped his abuse on the German. "I thought we're going to spend the whole night here at the club?"  
  
"It's a secret," Schuldig grinned and reluctantly pushed Aya off of his lap. "I'll tell you one thing though, we're going to do our duties as Santa and Mrs. Claus." He hinted and pointed to the presents piled in the corner of the room.  
  
The Weiß assassin gave the wrapped boxes a suspicious glare and turned that dangerous look back to Santa, making the German sweat drop.  
  
"Don't worry, there are no bombs, guns, knives, or any other kind of weapons of mass destruction in there. It's Christmas, and I'm already retired from the terrorist field," Schuldig tried to convince his doubtful kitten. "If anything bad happens, you have my permission to kick my butt. Now let's go before we're late!"  
  
Still not fully convinced, Aya let himself be dragged down back down the first floor and out the door, thankful that none of his team-mates saw him as he walked by. Yohji was busy arguing with his date, while Ken and Omi seemed to have a good time flirting with the same elf Aya met.  
  
Once outside, the redhead tripped as the heel of his boot stuck in a crack on the ground. Of course, Schuldig caught him before he could kiss the ground. "Be careful Aya."  
  
Glaring at the leer on the telepath's face, it all made sense to Aya now. "Don't tell me that this is the reason why you gave me the heels to wear, so I will trip more often and you will be there to catch me right?"  
  
"I thought I'm suppose to be the telepath here." The German joked nervously before backing away from the scowling Mrs. Claus.  
  
Taking a deep breath of the fresh night air to calm himself. the Japanese man groaned as he spotted the buggy waiting for him. "Don't tell me you're planning to use that thing again." Aya started to pull away. He has been embarrassed enough today.  
  
"Of course, how else will Santa travel if it isn't in his sleigh and reindeers?" Schuldig argued as he dragged his unwilling partner into the waiting transportation.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Aya-kun! We're home!" A slightly intoxicated Omi slurred out, leaning on Yohji as the trio stepped into the dark house.  
  
"Maybe he's already asleep, you shouldn't speak so loud Omi," Ken whispered, not wanting to be the one to face their leader's wrath for waking him in the middle of the night.  
  
"It's okay Ken, I'm not asleep yet."  
  
A voice spoke in the dark behind the three, making the three assassins almost jump in shock.  
  
"Aya! Don't sneak up on us next time! Do you know how scary it is when you can't see anything and half drunk?" Yohji growled out. The night has been nothing except for unpleasant surprises for him.  
  
"How was the party?" The redhead didn't apologize and instead turned on the light, making the three part goers all groan as the light pierced their eyes.  
  
"Horrible." "Wonderful." "Not that bad."  
  
Yohji, Omi, and Ken spoke at the same time.  
  
"Don't mind him Aya. Our playboy has been dumped for the first time in his life. And not once, but twice!" Ken grinned as he patted Yohji's back.  
  
"I wonder whose fault it was Kenken? If you had done a better job at distracting Marie-Anne, I wouldn't be here with three bachelors. I would be riding in a sleigh made for two with that gorgeous Mrs. Claus right now."  
  
"Hn. I'm going back to bed now," Aya quickly turned away before the smirk on his face betrayed him.  
  
"'Night," the three on the couch called out before the swordsman walked back to his bedroom and closed the door.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
That was a close one. One second late, and he would've been in trouble. Aya thought as he leaned against his closed door. Walking across the room, he took off his bathrobe and frowned down at the red dress that was hidden beneath. It was pure luck that Schuldig took him back just a few minutes before the other three came through the front door. And it was pure luck that the other three were too knocked out to notice that he was still wearing high heels and that Schuldig was still in the living room before he turned on the light.  
  
Anyhow even though he hated to admit it, all the forbidden meetings gave him a nice excited feeling, not the kind that he felt during battle though. Confusing as it was, being with Schuldig made him feel alive again. And it bothered him a little that the German didn't even need to use Aya-chan to threaten him into doing anything.  
  
Finally taking off the painful boots and dress, the redhead folded the latter carefully and hid it in his closet; it wouldn't be fun to have to explain to the others if the dress was discovered. As much as he hated the dress, he had to admit that it would remind him of tonight. and the place where Schuldig took him to after Illusions. It was the last place he expected the Schwarz telepath to frequent. but one visit with Schuldig was enough for Aya to reconsider what he knew about the other man. 


	4. Christmas Presents

AN: Um sorry? ^^;; I realize that it's four months after New Years, but my only explanation is that applying for university has been the biggest pain in my life. And now that I've been excepted I'm having trouble deciding where to go . Life is so complicated. ^^;; Well enough of excuses, here's the last chapter of Catching Me. I feel so proud of myself, my first WK story completed T_T

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot to me to see so many positive feedbacks and as lame as it may sound, it gave me to courage to write more, since I was never sure if I can write a yaoi story in the first place.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Chapter 3

"Ouch! Have some pity for your poor personal slave please, your royal pain in the neck," Schuldig complained as another box was added to the heavy load already in his arms.

"No one asked you to be here," Aya replied absent-mindedly looking around the display cases for another gift all the while keeping a safe distance between him and all the other last minute shoppers. There was already several cases when over enthusiastic shoppers grabbed him instead of gifts. "And who's fault is it that I have no time to shop until now?"

"Just wanted you to see the world outside of that damn flower shop grumpy. You never complained before so how should I know that you minded," the telepath murmured crossly as he 'unintentionally' changed the mind of a shopper, making the middle aged man suddenly freeze and walk away from the same soccer jersey Aya was interested in. The sooner they finish the kitten's Christmas shopping the better. He was beginning to hate crowds as much as the swordsman now, after having people bump, push, and even trip him to get their hands on a gift he had a pretty reasonable excuse too. 

"Okay, got one for Ken, one for Omi, have the jacket for Yohji. Already bought the earrings for Aya-chan. Who am I missing?" the Weiß red head mused out loud.

"What about me? Don't I get anything?" Schuldig asked eagerly trying to sound as cute as possible.

"How about a sword in the stomach?" Aya replied without thinking before he remembered. "Manx and Birman. Two more presents to go. What do women like?"

"How should I know?" the German asked incredulously when Aya looked at him expectantly. "You're asking the wrong guy here. I thought that you out of all people should know where my interest lie… or do I need to give your further proof?" the telepath ended with a leer and freed one of his arms to try and reach the swordsman… and promptly got kicked at the shins.

"Forget it. I'll just get the rest of the things myself." with that Aya walked away leaving Schuldig still trying to recover his balance and wincing from pain. The telepath glared at the shorter man's back and couldn't do anything in his present injured and encumbered situation to stop Aya from ditching him. But might as well use Aya's absence to finish his own shopping. 

Even with a considerably shorter Christmas list than the swordsman's, the gifts that he had to buy had to be much more meaningful and thoughtful. Something that could convince a certain stubborn assassin of his seriousness in pursuing him. Of course, Aya-chan gave him a mile long list of everything her brother enjoyed, but Schuldig was reluctant to accept the girl's help this time. He didn't simply want Aya to be happy because of a present, he wanted Aya to be happy because the present came from him.

And speaking of Aya-chan, the German slapped himself mentally as he spotted the nearby sweets section. Before he left for his shopping date, Aya-chan practically ordered him to bring back some candy canes, and made it very clear that he would be locked out if he came home without them. Schuldig chuckled as he picked up a box of strawberry candy canes. Sometimes the sister could be just as stubborn as the brother.

"Those are Aya-chan's favourites," the calm voice almost made Schuldig drop the sweets in surprise. "Aya! When did you get back?"

The shorter man shrugged aside the question and looked at the candy canes still in the telepath's hand. "I got everything now, do you want to go?" Without waiting for an answer, the Weiß redhead turned and headed for the cash register leaving a quietly cursing Schuldig to carry the bulk of the merchandise.

~*~*~*~

"Ah come on kitten, can't you even give me a little hint?" Schuldig tried for the hundredth time, looking at Aya with his own trademark pitiful look. The two were currently sitting on the floor of Schuldig's penthouse having fun wrapping the Christmas presents… at least Schuldig was having fun while Aya was wrapping the presents and trying prevent the Schwarz from wrapping him.

Taking out another bow from his hair, the swordsman sent a death glare at the German, who grinned this time. "What?" Schuldig held his hands up innocently. "If you didn't get me anything for Christmas, then I'll just have to get myself one," he finished while eyeing Aya hungrily.

"For the last time Schuldig! If you don't stop asking me about it, I'll seriously consider giving you a sword in the stomach on Christmas morning! And don't you dare try to read my mind either." Aya growled out. "Now stop whining and give me a hand."

"Aw, is the great powerful Abyssinian actually begging me for help?" the German quickly held back his smirk as a hand shot out and tugged his orange locks.

~*~*~*~

He serious regretted his decision to ask the Schwarz for help. Aya groaned and thought to himself after ten minutes. And it wasn't hard to see why either. The shorter man sighed under his grinning boyfriend who conveniently prevented him from moving by lying on top of him. And by the satisfied expression on Schuldig's face, he wasn't about to move anytime soon. "Schuldig, get off of me!"

"Hum? Why? I think that this is more fun than wrapping presents don't you thing?" the telepath yelped when his poor hair was yanked again. "And it's not like I can move even if I wanted to," he gave the multicoloured ribbons around their bodies a small jerk as to prove his point.

"Who was the one that got us in this position in the first place?" Aya tried to sound grim, but the effect was seriously impaired by the blush on his face from the way the older man was slowly moving on top of him.

"But I warned you beforehand that I liked to unwrap presents more than wrapping them," the husky voice brushed sensuously against Aya's pale skin before the swordsman gave a little gasp of surprise when he felt soft lips on his neck, slowly worshipping the pale skin of his throat.

"What… what about when you started to play Twister while pretending to help?" Aya's breath caught in his throat as teeth nipped him playfully and pulled down the neck of his orange sweater.

"That was just a plan to get you into this position," Schuldig admitted giving his kitten a dark look full of promises, pleased at how the younger man started to breath faster. "Now that I have you under my mercy, what are you going to do in exchange for your freedom?"

Aya closed his eyes tightly and shook his head refusing to raise to the bait.

"You can't think of anything? Well let me give you some suggestions then. You can go and dress up in that sexy little Mrs. Claus costume of yours again and let me kiss you in front of Weiß. Or you can stay here tonight and play a little game of master and slave…" the telepath's grain widened when Aya turned almost as red as his hair and really had to restrain himself from pouncing his kitten then and there. Who would've thought that his beautiful and pure little kitten could have such a positive reaction to naughty thoughts?

"And the last choice, I'm sure that you'll find this to be the most attractive of the three," here the German paused dramatically, purring in delight as Aya took a deep breath. "I'll let you go if you'll just tell me what you got me for Christmas."

The younger man snapped open his eyes, the German had no time to react before he was rudely shoved (ribbons and all) off of the redhead.

"Aw, you're no fun Aya!" the telepath complained getting up and rubbing his arms.

"I warned you before baka," the swordsman snorted but the violet eyes softened a little as they settled on the where Schuldig was rubbing his arms. Walking over, he pushed away the German's hands and expertly began to massage the bruised muscles. "Does that feel better now?"

A look of pure bliss on his face, Schuldig nodded. The feeling of those warm strong hands were starting to wake up the lower parts of his body, and the thought of Aya volunteering doing this was speeding up the process.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to visit them again today?" the sound of Aya's voice woke him from his little daydream.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's already nine pm."

"Shit, didn't even realize it was this late," Schuldig quickly got up and walked to the door, grabbing both of their coats on the way, waiting for Aya who went to pick up a large bouquet of red roses before walking toward the door.

"Should I be worried?" Schuldig raised an eyebrow staring at the flowers cradled carefully in Aya's arms. "Who are they for?"

"For them of course baka. Don't tell me that you're jealous of them," Aya joked.

"Of course not ! But you never know, after all there are several pretty ladies who work there," Schuldig said bending down to give the shorter man a quick peck on the lips. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the bedroom door at the end of the hall open quietly and a hand stuck out to wave goodbye.

~*~*~*~

"Aya," Schuldig asked as they drove across town in his BMW. "Aren't the other kittens suspicious why you're suddenly going out all the time?"

"Is that a hint for me to decline our next date?" the redhead teased. "They are curious. Yohji thinks that I met someone and spending all of my time getting laid to make up for lost time," Aya frowned as the recalled his blond teammate, but the frown quickly changed to a smirk as he remembered his response to Yohji, who had to cancel his date that night because of a 'small injury'.

Beside him, Schuldig laughed out loud as he caught the last thought from Aya. What he wouldn't give to see the expression on Kudou's face at that moment. "I feel almost guilty for disappointing him though." he turned around to give the swordsman a leer as he pulled up to their destination.

The two men barely had time to take off their shoes at the entrance before they were surrounded from all sides.

Schuldig chuckled in amusement as he ruffled the head of a little girl clinging onto his leg and turned to see Aya picking up a little boy in his arms. 

"Merry Christmas kids!"

The greeting was returned cheerfully by a dozen childish voices.

"Flwrs!" the little girl Schuldig was holding suddenly let go when she saw the red roses in Aya's arms. At her cry the rest of the girls also swamped up to the redhead like a group of bees, making the German chuckle at the slightly panicked look on Aya's face. The kitten could hold his own in any combat, but put him in a company of kids and he would lose in seconds.

"Really Schuldig! When I finally manage to put them to bed and you show up to ruin my hard work!" a middle age woman with a motherly air scolded, coming down the stairs of the little two story house.

"Sorry Nina, but Aya wanted to see the kids," the German grinned and gave the woman a chaste kiss on both cheeks.

"He does seem to have a way with them doesn't he?" Nina said as the two watched the redhead bend down and distribute the roses to all the children, who were staring at the red flowers like they were little miracles. 

"He doesn't realize it yet, but it's because he's as innocent as them, that's why they love him so much."

"Don't let this one get away Schuldig, or else the kids and I will kill you for real this time."

"No need to worry Nina, I would be a fool to let him go," the German grinned confidently.

The woman snorted and Schuldig gave her a hurt look.

"Whatever, for now since you got the kids out of their bed, you'll have to put them back again." Nina grinned as her boss groaned. "Goodnight Schuldig, and don't you dare bribe them back to bed either, it took me forever to get them to brush their teeth."

Rolling his eyes, he had to give the woman credit for knowing him so well. Guess he would just have to save the chocolate cookies for another time. "Alright kids, the love fest is over, lets get you to bed!" the telepath said and walked behind Aya to pull the younger man into his arms.

Immediately he was attacked by twelve adorable pouting faces. "But Aya-kun just got here! We don't want to go to sleep yet. We want to play with Aya-kun!"

"Yeah, he promised us that he would show us fighting moves!" the boys joint in the complaining also.

For once it was the telepath's turn to get a headache. "Kids, if you don't go back to bed right now, I'll never bring Aya-kun here ever again."

The effect was immediate as the room became deathly silent before twelve pairs of little feet scrambled to run back to their second floor bedrooms. 

"Come on kitten, let's go up before they decide to get out of bed again to look for you." with that the two men walked up the stairs to the large room where all the younger kids slept together.

"Tell us a story before you leave please Schuldig?" a sleepy voice asked under the covers.

"Just a short one, and you have to go to sleep afterwards deal?" the older man asked, before settling down comfortably on a soccer bean bag and pulled Aya onto his lap. The girls giggled and the boys rolled their eyes as Aya blushed and attempted to struggle.

"Now what story should I tell you?" the German mused out loud before the jaded eyes fell on the red roses clutched in the children's hands. A wicked grin lit up his face as he purposefully pulled Aya around and tucked the red head under his chin and began the story. "Do you want to know how roses are red?"

All the little kids nodded and an uneasy feeling settled in Aya's stomach as he saw the expression on Schuldig's face.

"Once a nightingale loved a rose, and the rose, aroused by its song woke trembling on her stem. It was a white rose, like all the roses at that time- white, innocent and virginal. It listened to the song, and something in its rose heart stirred. 

"The nightingale came ever so near the trembling rose and whispered words that the rose could not help hearing. Ben seviyorum seni gül, gül.. I love you rose, rose.

" At those words, the little heart of the rose blushed, and in that instant, the pink roses were born. The nightingale came closer and closer, and though God, when he created the world, meant that the rose alone should never know earthly love, the rose opened its petals and the nightingale stole its virginity. 

"In the morning, the rose in its shame turned red, giving birth to red roses; and although ever since then the nightingale comes nightly to ask for divine love, the rose refuses, for God never meant rose and bird to mate. The rose trembles at the voice of the nightingale, but its petals remained closed." (1) Schuldig finished softly against Aya's ear and listened to the peaceful breathings from the beds. Which was a good thing because the things he wanted to do to his blushing rose was inappropriate for young eyes.

Softly running a hand along Aya's smooth cheek, he smiled as Aya held back a moan refused to meet his eyes. "Stubborn kitty." Bending ever so slowly, his lips caressed Aya's just when…

"Schuldig? What does virginity mean?" a soft voice asked quietly, but it was enough to make Aya jump up from the German's lap like a spring.

Trying very hard not to laugh out loud at Aya's behaviour and trying to keep a stern expression on his face, he turned to the little girl. "Didn't we have a deal Ruka? One bedtime story and you'll go to sleep or else I won't bring Aya-kun to visit next time."

"But…" the little girl's words stopped when a wave of sleepiness took over. The telepath smiled softly before tucking the young girl back to bed.

Aya was already waiting for him in the car when he came out of the house. He started the car and pulled out of the drive way in silence.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Did what?" Schuldig asked stopping at a red light.

"That story baka," Aya replied with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Only you can tell a bunch of kids a story like that. Even Yohji isn't that bad when it comes to kids."

"Hey, are you insulting me here?" a fake offended look appeared on Schuldig's face. "And it got the job done right?"

"What? Making a five year old girl wonder what virginity is?"

"No, putting them to sleep and making you blush."

"So that story was more for me than for the kids?" Aya rolled his eyes but couldn't help but redden a little.

"I'll leave that up to you to decide… Aya?"

"Hum?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," the younger man grinned as Schuldig sent him a half hearted glare.

"Why are you being so complacent now? At the beginning you always put up such a big fight , but now I don't even have to mention Aya-chan's name to get you to go on a date with me.

"Well…" Aya began after a long pause. "because you're strange."

"Excuse me? I'm strange?!" Obviously that wasn't what Schuldig was ready to hear.

"Well yeah. You used to be part of the biggest terrorist groups, but now you operate an orphanage. You evoke fear and hatred, but those kids adore you. Kids don't lie. And it was interesting being around you," the younger man admitted grudgingly.

"Interesting?" the telepath echoed. Aya certainly had a way with compliments. "What about your sister? Don't you hate me for using her to force you to do whatever I want?"

"I have my own reasons for that." the swordsman said and turned away. The rest of the ride back to the Koneko was silent.

~*~*~*~

"Back so late Aya?" Yohji greeted his redhead leader as he opened the door. "Who's that hottie that just drove away? You know, let me share my philosophy with you," Slinging an arm over Aya's shoulder, Yohji pulled the younger man into the house. "Here's my motto: Why come home late when you don't have to come home at all?"

The redhead didn't answer before slamming the door in the blond's face. He was going to win the bet against Ken for sure now. Yohji thought as he stared at Aya's door with a grin. He knew a lovesick expression when he saw one, and Aya was demonstrating all the symptoms of being in love. Now all he had to do was win the bet against Omi, then he would be shift free on mornings for the next six months.

~*~*~*~

Something sounds very happy… too happy. The grouchy redhead thought as he cracked open a violet eye and stared incredulously at something that didn't belong in his room. After all, he had a strict rule about no living creatures in his room except for him. And he didn't exactly have that much time last night to sleep after thinking about Schuldig's questions.

"Merry Christmas Aya-kun!" Before he had time to go back to sleep again, his three housemates practically broke down his door. Too tired to deal with them, the redhead murmured a greeting and turned around in bed.

"Um Aya?"

The leader scowled, didn't the bakas take the hint that he wanted to have some peace and quiet so that he could go back to sleep? " What do you want Yohji?"

When he didn't get an answer right away, Aya sat up thinking about kicking out the intruders personally when he froze. He started at his friends, who stared back at him, then he looked around his room which was covered in rose petals, especially on his bed. Putting a hand on his head, the swordsman brushed away a few white petals and stared at the centre of his room, where a nightingale was chirping away in an elegant brass cage.

Like a flood, the story from last night came pouring back. Acting fast before his friends could open their mouths to ask him any embarrassing questions, he pushed them out and locked the door.

A minute later the pounding on his door began again and he could hear Yohji and Omi shouting questions at him, asking if his lover was male or female.

Lover indeed, he wouldn't mind getting his hands on Schuldig and… Aya blushed when he realized the path his thoughts were going on.

You want to get your hands on me and what kitten? An amused voice asked in his head. Did you like the first part of my present?

Schuldig! Where the Hell are you hiding?

Merry Christmas to you too Aya. Can I get my present now?

Show yourself first. Came the stubborn reply.

Fine. Get dressed and jump out the window. I'll catch you.

Jump out the window? Why can't I just walk down the stairs like a normal person?

Because you don't' want to answer Kudou's questions. Did you know that those three put a bet on you?

What kind of a bet? Aya asked silently reminding himself to have a 'talk' with Yohji about it alter.

On whether you're lost your virginity or not and on if your lover is a man or a woman.

Schuldig , you have my permission to scramble Kudou's brain… whatever is left of it anyway you please. I'm coming down now.

Normally, jumping down a second floor window was no big deal, but today, he couldn't stop his pounding heart as he saw Schuldig standing under his window arms wide open and wearing a big smile on his face.

Aya couldn't stop the grin from his own face as he recalled the famous Shakespeare play. "O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Aya recited before jumping down, just when Yohji, Omi and Ken burst through his bedroom door for the second time.

The trio ran to the window where they caught sight of Aya and a very familiar man getting into a sleek BMW.

"See Yohji! I told you that it was a man!" An enthusiastic Omi jumped up and down slapping the older man on the back.

"AYA?! With another man?!" Ken flushed at the mental image and promptly had a nose bleed.

~*~*~*~

"So Aya, can you tell me what my present is now?" Schuldig practically begged as they stood in the elevator.

"Stop being so childish! You'll know tonight." The younger man replied as the elevator came to an stop and a pair of hands covered his eyes.

"Why are you covering my eyes?" the redhead asked as he was carefully pushed out into the German's penthouse.

"Hush, it's the second part of my present to you." Schuldig whispered. "Now, what do you smell?"

"Turkey… the way okaa-san used to make it," Aya whispered in a surprised voice.

"What do you hear?"

Aya grinned when he noticed the music in the background. "Aya-chan used to play this song at Christmas."

"Keep your eyes closed Aya," Schuldig instructed as he took off his own hands and led the younger man towards the baby grand piano. "Keep your eyes closed still, but slowly put your hands in front of you. That's it. Now, what do you feel?"

"Aya-chan's hair."

"Onii-chan!" the loud whining made Aya smile and open his eyes. And true to his guess, his imouto was sitting in front of him pouting. "How did you know that it was me?"

The brother rolled his eyes. "With all the clues that Schuldig has been dropping and the fact that you have been a horrible actress. Even Ken would be able to figure it out if he was in my place." The redhead answered dryly.

"How did you know that Schu-chan didn't hurt me then?"

Aya raised an delicate eyebrow and mouthed 'Schu-chan' over his sister's head and was amused to see the telepath blush.

"That time at the club when you were pretending to be the waitress. Then there was the time when Schuldig bought the candy canes for you. And last night when I saw you waving to him before we left to go to the orphanage."

"So that's the reason why you weren't worried when I made you go out with me? Because you already knew that you sister was safe?"

"I also knew that it was Aya-chan who came up with those ridiculous plans right?" here the redhead broke off and sent his imouto a glare.

The girl giggled nervously. "Enough about me, aren't you suppose to kiss Schu-chan now?" the girl pointed towards the ceiling where the twig of mistletoe hung over head.

Aya blushed but did what he was told as his imouto let out a cheer.

"How do you like my present?" Schuldig asked softly in his ear.

"I love it." and he meant it with all his heart, he finally got his family back.

Epilogue

"Aya? Where are you love?" Schuldig held back a yawn as he felt the empty space next to him, . Totally drained after making love to his kitten for the first time.

"I'm over here," the younger man answered as he sat next to his lover, glad that the darkness hid this wince as he sat down.

"Sore?" an amused voice asked him, too bad that he forgot that his lover could read minds.

"Baka!! Do you want your present or not?" Aya blushed and stood up slowly, throwing Schuldig his coat.

"I thought that I already got my Christmas present?" the older man asked teasingly but did what he was told.

"That… that was part of it," Aya's embarrassed voice said softly. "I'm going to take you to see the second part right now."

~*~*~*~

"Aya love, are you sure about this? You don't have to do this now you know."

"I know, but I'm ready and I want to."

The two men stood in front of the Fujimiya tomb in the dark.

"Okaa-san, Otoo-san. Merry Christmas."

The older man smiled at his younger lover's shaking voice and bend to kiss the red head, silently encouraging him to continue. 

"It's been a while since I came here. I have a lot of good news to tell you though. Aya-chan is back and safe. She's more happy that she has ever been since we lost you. She's currently attending Meiou Academy and has made lots of new friends. I'm finally ale to move on too." A pale hand reached dup to grip the arm around his waist. "I want to tell you that you won't have to worry about the two of us anymore."

~*~*~ End~*~*~

(1) It's an Arabic story that I found while doing an English project. 


End file.
